CHENNAI: Frontline workers wear it as mandatory protective gear. Sustainable cloth brands sport it as a fashion statement. Good samaritans donate it to ensure safety for those who can’t afford it. Entrepreneurs have set up entire businesses and generated employment. Masks are no more just pieces of cloth; if anything, the coronavirus has redefined its utility. Optimising this opportunity, senior corporate trainer Jyothi Thomas is using masks to revive the dying art of smocking by employing people with disabilities, senior citizens, widows and daily wage workers.
It started with her Mission Mask project in March. As a member of FICCI FLO, Jyothi pooled in financial support from the organisation and distributed over 23,000 cotton masks to the police force in the city during the first phase of lockdown. The masks were stitched by 28 daily wage workers, trained by FICCI FLO’s up-skilling programme, in their homes. “One of the daily wage workers from Perumbakkam was happy that she was able to give milk to her children after a long time. She earned money for the first time and it gave her a sense of identity. She thanked me over the phone,” narrates Jyothi.
Within a few days, Jyothi chanced upon her daughter’s baptism ceremony photos and noticed an elegant smocking pattern on the bonnet that the baby was wearing. An embroidery technique that originated in England, smocking is used to gather the fabric to give it elasticity and enhance its appeal. Seeing the photo, Jyothi came up with an idea. She reached out to friends and family from other countries to look for masks that adorned a smocking pattern, but they couldn’t find many. She realised that this was the right time to revive the nearly extinct craft, and thus was born Mission Mask: 2.
Jyothi started the project three months back, under her 22-year-old initiative The Creative Artistic Network, which is focused on upgrading and up-skilling artisans. Mission Mask: 2 was set up using her seed capital. After procuring the fabric, she approached the Little Flower Convent School for Deaf and Dumb. “The Sister felt I was godsend. She recommended a few inmates with disabilities, who needed employment. I formed a team of about eight women with a master tailor. While the ladies create the smocking pattern, the tailor stitches them. Even if it’s `20 or `50 of income per day, they are ready to spend hours and complete the day’s orders,” says Jyothi.
Smocking is done by inmates of The Little Flower Convent who learned it through vocational training from the time they were young. The stitching is done by the women who know to tailor. Embroidery and pleating is taken care of by women with speech-impairment. The team has stitched 150 masks priced at Rs 150 each. Smocking, for each mask, takes two to two-and-a- half hours. After pleating and gathering, stitching takes another 45 minutes. Overall, it’s a tedious process of five hours for a mask. The cotton masks are two-layered and available in pastel shades. Orders have been pouring in from well-wishers within the city, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and abroad.
“Why is it that we always give credit only to artisans from other regions for their craftsmanship and embroidery work? We have potential here. The ladies have been doing an incredible job with smocking, which isn’t easy to master within a short span. They are learning new techniques each day. I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of people and support. I have more plans for the employment of these artisans,” shares a happy Jyothi.
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